Are You a Leader? Leadership is not merely a business card title but an attitude permeating every action and decision.
Unfortunately, many consider themselves leaders based on their position within an organisation. Still, when they ask others to march lockstep with them, they find themselves walking alone.
I believe that leadership is earned and is an underrated skill that many who have teams underneath them never learn, let alone foster.
I was taught that the first rule of a leader is to create new leaders. They need to realise that those they lead may have special skills that they do not have, not to be threatened by them, and to help those people achieve their own goals and greatness.
Leadership is about mentorship, coaching and giving people space, time and confidence to be challenged, learn and overcome. Leadership is not about gaining accolades or taking responsibility for others’ creativity and actions but about celebrating the team and revelling in the successes of those you lead.
Unfortunately, in many cases, we have people who call themselves leaders who are threatened by the skills, achievements, and prowess of others. These people need the limelight for themselves and are quick to blame those they lead when things do not go right.
The Peter Principle has much to do with this. Simply put, it is promoting people to their highest level of incompetence. It is taking skilled tacticians who have gained the attention of others within the organisation and promoting them to leadership positions without training, coaching, or mentorship to help teach them the leadership skills many do not possess.
This is a recipe for failed leadership and frustrated teams.
It is an entirely different set of skills to be a great leader. You need to realise that it is now someone else’s job to be the tactician, and your job is now to support that person and enable them to shine and succeed. This requires effective listening, communication, empathy, and the ability to set expectations and be accountable.
Leadership is for those who realise that each person they lead is an individual. Each has its own set of skills, challenges, and motivations. Utilising one framework to enable all to succeed is unrealistic. A good leader must be creative, adaptable, and resilient. They need to be able to explain what needs to happen and why and empower teams to determine how best to accomplish goals.
They need to be ever-diligent, watching for pitfalls, anticipating challenges, and ensuring that teams are up to overcoming them. A great leader fosters a culture where their teams come to them with a problem and two possible solutions. They discuss the situation together, and the leader looks to those who go to them to develop the best solutions on their own whenever possible.
None of this is easy. It means giving up control, which is an illusion at best. The only thing we truly control is how we react; we may be able to influence everything else but never control. Our job as leaders is to hire effectively, communicate continually and enable people to be their best.
I challenge everyone who reads this to think, if I needed my team to go to battle with me, would they, and would we be victorious on the other side?
A true leader knows the answer and never rests on their laurels.
BONUS: here is a three-minute motivational video on LEADERSHIP. It’s well worth investing the time to watch.
Editor’s Footnote:
Ben Baker is a Featured Columnist, you can read all his articles by clicking below:
